Ghoulies/Ghoulies II / Rewatch

 My daughter and I had a double feature this Saturday of the first two Ghoulies movies. The puppet monsters designed by John Carl Buechler with stop motion from David Allen's team finally showing them ghoulies walk (and fly) are better served in the carnival sequel, while I felt the first film was just too absorbed by Michael Des Barres' Satanic sorcerer and his son's green-glowing-eyed son, played by Peter Liapis. Liapis and Des Barres reallllllly get into the conjurer, sorcery, dressed-in-robes, hands/arms stretched to the heavens, faces built-to-a-crescendo while reciting and shouting incantations to Satanic gods stuff. Full-throated, mouths stretched wide, voices reached-to-their-zenith, Liapis and Des Barres put all their gusto into raising whatever ghoulies and demon gods might grant them power. Even two servants are conjured to do their bidding (ultimately, Liapis is who they side with because Des Barres is more than a bit evil, so desiring to sacrifice his son and take his youth). In the sequel, the film centers specifically on Damon Martin, working with his alcoholic uncle, Royal Dano, with their assistant played by Phil Fondacaro, trying to save their funhouse from being disbanded by J. Downing's "son of the CEO". While Ghoulies (1984) doesn't have many recognizable faces (Des Barres has been in B-movies and Direct-to-video fare), the sequel really has a bunch. This includes Remsen (of such films as "Pumpkinhead" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street II:Freddy's Revenge"), Sasha Jenson ("Halloween IV"/"Dazed & Confused"), Starr Andreeff ("Dance of the Damned"/"Out of the Dark"/"The Terror Within"), and William Butler ("Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw III"). Jenson, Andreeff, and Butler are friends (the obnoxious brats who look to party inside the funhouse, get drunk, and fuck) who end up having to fight off the ghoulies.

The villain of Ghoulies II (1987) are the ghoulies and J. Downing, the former using the funhouse devices as actual weapons when their teeth and claws aren't enough, while the latter seeks to unemploy Martin, Dano, and Fondacaro. Actually, I think Fondacaro comes off the best of the cast, while Dano is kind of a tragic, rather pitiable character as the miserable drunk who relies so much on booze just to keep from being even more sad. Martin and Fondacaro are just trying to keep their Satan's Den profitable and open. The creatures actually walking is such a plus for the sequel while the original remains closeups of hand puppets and lots of father-and-son Satanic mumbo jumbo. The giant sized ghoulie that is conjured by Fondacaro and Martin gobbling up the small ghoulies is also such a hilarious inclusion in the sequel. The sequel even adds a second ghoulie-out-of-the-toilet gag to complement the first film's brief moment, a highlight emphasized on the posters for the first two films.

Kids of the 80s watched these A LOT. I told my daughter that I recall seeing a cardboard cutout of the second film while visiting one of my town's rental stores -- Eagle's Video -- so even if the films are just silly nonsense that I can't take the least bit seriously, the memories themselves are enough to encourage some entertainment. They're not what I would consider "good", though. You sort of have to expect low budget schlock by Charles Band's Empire (now defunct) company. 

I updated my ratings for the films. On IMDb, I gave the first 1/10 and the second 3/10.

Current ratings are a bit more favorable.

Ghoulies **/***** (5/10)

Ghoulies II **/***** (5/10).